Trump says US-India to sign US$3b defence deals
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US President Donald Trump (left) with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Namaste Trump Rally at Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, on Feb 24, 2020.
PHOTO: AFP
AHMEDABAD (BLOOMBERG) - The US will sign military deals worth more than US$3 billion (S$4.2 billion) with India on Tuesday (Feb 25), President Donald Trump said at the start of a two-day state visit to the South Asian nation.
"We make the greatest weapons ever made. Airplanes. Missiles. Rockets. Ships. We make the best and we're dealing now with India. But this includes advanced air-defence systems and armed and unarmed aerial vehicles," Mr Trump told a cheering crowd at the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Monday as he shared the stage with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last week, India's Cabinet cleared US$2.6 billion purchase from Lockheed Martin Corp of 24 multi-role MH-60R Seahawk maritime helicopters to Indian navy.
The State Department has also approved a potential sale to India of US$1.8 billion in arms, including air-defence radars and missiles, rifles and other equipment, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency announced.
Mr Trump also reiterated his pledge that the US would make a significant trade deal with India.
"We are in the early stages of discussion for an incredible trade agreement to reduce barriers of investment between the United States and India," he said. "And I am optimistic that, working together, the prime minister and I can reach a fantastic deal that's good and even great for both of our countries." He gave no time line for a deal.
Officials have tried to hammer out a modest trade deal opening up India to US agricultural products and medical devices in return for the restoration of preferential export status that Mr Trump stripped from India in 2019.
"There has been comparatively less activity during President Trump's first term so it's important for the two sides to get a win in the arms sales arena, particularly since the trade deal that's been under negotiations for over a year appears to be off the table for now," Mr Jeff M. Smith, research fellow at the Washington D.C.-based Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Centre.